The invention relates to a sensor comprising a coded member according to the preamble of claim 1.
Sensors are widely built into structures, for example machine parts, for detecting and transmitting measurement data. These structures may well be exposed to very high temperatures and/or strong accelerations during the measurements. Such sensors, for example piezo-electric sensors, have different sensitivities which most often must be set manually at the amplifier. In the built-in state it is often no longer possible to make out the identification, for example by means of the serial number, and thus to conclude the sensitivities and/or other sensor-specific data from the corresponding data sheet. Furthermore, in the case of a plurality of built-in sensors there is a danger of confusion by confounding the measurement lines.
Some sensors contain memory chips containing the respective data which can be scanned prior to the measurements. These data can be directly included into the measurement protocol. Since such memory chips cannot be used in high-temperature environments mostly passive components are suitable for these applications.
WO 02/082023 describes a method for automatic recognition of the sensor sensitivity. According to this method, a resistance of a certain amount shall be assigned to a sensor whereby the sensor is allocated to a particular group of sensors having a predetermined sensitivity range. This method has the disadvantage that it requires an additional line to the sensor for measuring the resistance so that identification and measurement cannot be performed simultaneously.